Edifice of Trust

Our unthinking enemy acts on only one principle, replicate its DNA as much as possible. Its relentless culling of the human race focuses on those that are most vulnerable, those that have other underlying health problems such that over 89% of the deaths in New York state are people that have these so-called comorbidity factors. America is also vulnerable to crises like the Coronavirus pandemic bec...

Congress will soon begin discussions about another round of legislative stimulus in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. And Senator Elizabeth Warren has some proposals that she will try to include as she enumerated in her New York Times op-ed on April 8, 2020. But her proposals are not intended to address the current crisis. In this episode, the Edifice of Trust host, Victor Bolles examines the...

The economy is being horribly damaged by the steps the federal and state governments are taking to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. But it is not the state of the economy that will determine the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. The election will be determined by how the Trump administration handles the pandemic and its aftermath. And it will be determined by the leadership sh...

This week Congress will be passing legislation to deal with the economic devastation our struggle with the Coronavirus has caused. Some of the proposals are dopey, some are self-serving and some represent left-wing or right-wing political agendas. Many will be ineffective or poorly focused. In this episode the Edifice of Trust host, Victor Bolles, looks at some proposals would more squarely addres...

The coronavirus is coming and coming fast. Thanks to jet airplanes and giant cruise ships, the virus could not be contained in China and has spread rapidly to over 149 countries around the world. When it becomes time for the blame game, modern civilization will be in the crosshairs. In this podcast the Edifice of Trust host, victor Bolles, discusses how the Enlightenment values that gave us the te...

Russian election meddling has tarnished President Trump's 2016 elections and the resulting investigations have dogged his administration for most of his term. As he prepares to run for reelection the Russians appear to be up to their same old tricks. In this podcast the Edifice of Trust host, Victor Bolles, discusses what President Trump should do (instead of what he is likely to do). It is to hee...

After several boozy trips to socialist and formerly socialist countries, two irreverent (and beer loving) economists wondered about the rise of socialism in America. Millennials and Gen Z have a positive opinion of socialism and would be willing to vote for a socialist in upcoming elections, as evidenced by the popularity of Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential primaries. Why is that? Lib...

The most recent book of the infamous Dr. Charles Murray (Human Diversity, The Biology of Gender, Race and Class) paints a picture of genetic determinism that highlights the differences between people and debunks the left's notions that these differences are social constructs created by white privilege. In this commentary the Edifice of Trust host, Victor Bolles, discusses what these ideas imply fo...

The first students of the generation raised since the invention of the smart phone began entering the university in 2013. Soon after, students began requesting trigger warnings and safe spaces to protect them from bias incidents and from speakers or textbooks that made them uncomfortable. Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff analyze this problem in their new book, the Coddling of the American Mind. T...

Golf is simple – until you take into account all the Newtonian physics that can affect the flight of the golf ball. And you have to add in the physical abilities and psychological quirks of the golfer that further complicate the game of golf. Good governance should also be simple. But governance is not based on physics but on psychology. And while the golfer must contend with the physical challeng...

Many unions such as the National Nurses United are endorsing socialist  and progressive presidential candidates despite the fact that independent trade unions have not fared well under socialist and leftist regimes. In this episode the Edifice of Trust host, Victor Bolles, looks at what is the appropriate relationship between labor and capital.

Identity politics is a potent weapon because it paints people within certain identity groups (mostly minorities) as victims of the dominant group. It is potent because the feeling of victimization creates neurological reactions that motivate people with this feeling to seek redress of their grievances, real or imagined. But the use of victimization as a political tool has side effects and unintend...

Have you received any email messages recently requesting that you make a donation on Giving Tuesday to a college, charity, symphony, think tank or other not-for-profit organization? The Edifice of Trust host, Victor Bolles, sure has. Here is his take on this recently created Christmas institution.

Is is possible to have too much democracy? The Founders thought so. They feared that too much democracy could destroy liberty. They realized that people needed government to protect the social order but that too much government became a tyranny. So they created checks and balances to limit the power of government. Likewise, they believed that an unchecked and fickle majority could also create a ty...

In this world there are actors and reactors. There are political actors that run for office and there are political reactors that vote for them. There are economic actors that start up businesses or create new products and there are economic reactors that work for them and consume their products. The American system has been successful because it creates a lot of actors and these actors dynamize o...

Recently, presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren said, "I'm running a campaign from the heart." And if you have seen her on the campaign trail, you know that she shows a lot of emotion while campaigning. But usually that emotion is anger. She is mad as hell. Her proposal for Medicare-for-All seem more intended to kick the butts of big corporations and fat cat billionaires than it is to solve our he...

Recently, presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren said, "I'm running a campaign from the heart." And if you have seen her on the campaign trail, you know that she shows a lot of emotion while campaigning. But usually that emotion is anger. She is mad as hell. Her proposal for Medicare-for-All seem more intended to kick the butts of big corporations and fat cat billionaires than it is to solve our he...

On August 19, 2019 the CEOs making up the Business Roundtable issued a statement redefining the purpose of a corporation to add new stakeholders such as employees and consumers to the corporation's loyalty in addition to shareholder returns. Expecting praise from the left they got instead a letter from Senator Elizabeth Warren demanding tangible proof of the implementation of their intentions and...

The impeachment inquiry and subsequent votes are more than just about removing Donald Trump from office (which it is unlikely to accomplish anyway).  The Edifice of Trust host, Victor Bolles, discusses that how incumbents vote in the House and Senate will become a litmus test that the extreme wings on the right and left will use to oust moderates from the party ranks.

In his recent book (co-authored with Bing West), former Secretary of Defense and Marine Corps General Jim Mattis writes about his military career and the key factors for battlefield success. An important element is what he call the commander's intent. It is vitally important that all the troops under his command understand and act in concert with this intent. In this commentary, the Edifice of Tru...

After forty plus years of economic expansion and growing prosperity, Chinese Present Xi Jinping finds himself in a dilemma. Economic growth has allowed China to regain much of its stature as a world power but only because the Chinese rejected communist ideals and principles to create a form of state capitalism with private companies and private property providing much of the dynamism of the econom...

America's decades long policy of engagement with China has been a failure. China has used our engagement and that of other developed countries to become, not only prosperous, but a formidable military power, a predatory mercantilist economic power and a technologically advanced oppressor of the Chinese people. The Edifice of Trust host, Victor Bolles, discusses how America and its friends and alli...

Thomas Sowell's 1999 book, The Quest for Cosmic Justice, addresses many of the issues we face today including identity politics, social justice and entitlements, income inequality, personal truth more important than reality (sometimes called being woke) and the rejection of American principles. The Edifice of Trust host, Victor Bolles discusses how Thomas Sowell may not be "woke," but twenty years...

Thomas Sowell points out in his book, The Quest for Cosmic Justice that constitutional rights and cosmic social justice are mutually exclusive and like matter and antimatter cannot coexist. In this week's episode, the Edifice of Trust host, Victor Bolles speculates what would happen if social justice principles were applied to the NBA?

The Democratic presidential candidates are calling President Trump a racist and a white supremacist. But is he? I think he is a Trump supremacist. But others are attacking the basic principles upon which America is founded as racist and the product of white supremacy. Can these assertions be true? Is the ideal of America just a sham? The Edifice of Trust host, Victor Bolles, discusses.